Blog
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It’s Time to Revisit Vendor Managed Inventory
A few decades ago, Vendor Managed Inventory (VMI) was a hot topic. Many manufacturers saw it as a way to reduce inventory levels and costs. If they could get their suppliers to maintain ownership of raw materials or subcontracted components until consumed, inventory levels would naturally drop—on paper anyway. Because they were giving most, or…
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Peace on Earth and Goodwill Between Sales and Production
The decorations. The music. The food. The holiday season is a time of cheer and goodwill for many people. Nevertheless, there are two groups who may find each other especially trying this time of year: sales and production. That’s because this isn’t just the holiday season; it’s also the end of the fiscal year for…
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Guest Blog Part 2: Start Your eKanban Implementation with Value-stream Mapping and Engaging Your Suppliers
by Jim Shore Through this guest blog series, my intent is to share some of my experiences implementing supplier quality and Lean manufacturing initiatives by focusing on eKanban systems. My first post offered advice for planning an eKanban rollout (advice that could be applied across any Lean manufacturing project). In this installment, I’d like to…
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FAQ: What is the Difference Between Pull Manufacturing and Demand-Driven Manufacturing?
I often talk about pull manufacturing and Demand-Driven Manufacturing as though they are one and the same. That’s because, in my mind, they are. However, after reading through a couple of online articles this afternoon, it’s clear not everyone sees it that way. In fact, some of the various ways pull…
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Weathering the Next Recession
The global economic recession that started in 2007/2008 hit the manufacturing sector hard. In February of 2009, The Economist even published a piece called The Collapse of Manufacturing. If you recall, this was right about the time the automotive manufacturer bailouts kicked in because they, like the larger financial institutions, were deemed too important to…
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3 Prerequisites to a Modern Demand-Driven Supply Chain
In 2010, Gartner estimated that manufacturers outsourced about 70% of the products they make to other manufacturers. I haven’t seen a recent statistic, but that still feels about right. So, it only makes sense that, for most manufacturers, implementing modern demand-driven or pull-manufacturing techniques will require collaboration with many partners across the entire supply chain.…
